Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Show Was an Incredibly Stunning, Inclusive Celebration of Womanhood

New York Fashion Week has never seen an ending quite as powerful as this.

By Lauren Alexis Fisher

After taking a one season hiatus, Rihanna made her return to New York Fashion Week tonight with a truly breathtaking and empowering presentation of her Savage x Fenty lingerie collection. The show, which was livestreamed on Youtube, is guaranteed to give you goosebumps and make your jaw drop. To put it lightly: RIHANNA REALLY DID THE DAMN THING.

Championing inclusivity and diversity, the moving presentation-turned-runway featured women of all races and body sizes. It was a show that celebrated women and sisterhood to the fullest extent with beautiful dance performances, symbolic choreography, and a theatrical display.

Credit: YouTube

Credit: YouTube

Credit: YouTube

Yes, the runway spectacle featured appearances by Joan Smalls and both Hadid sisters, but the casting of models went well beyond that. When Rihanna launched her Savage x Fenty brand this past spring, she made sure the lingerie was made for women of all body types. That inclusivity was reflected on the runway of the brand’s first presentation tonight—something many other fashion brands could benefit in learning from.

Credit: YouTube

Credit: YouTube

In an incredibly powerful moment, a pregnant Slick Woods walked the runway wearing sparkling black nipple pasties and a sexy cut-out bodysuit that showed off her baby bump.

Credit: YouTube

She wasn’t the only pregnant woman to walk the show either, another expecting model walked the runway in a plunging nude lace bodysuit. It was a casting choice that said pregnant women’s bodies are beautiful and they’re allowed to be sexy too.

Credit: YouTube

Taking her final bow at the end of the show, Bad Gal Riri wore a brown tube dress and matching headscarf, which she dramatically untied to reveal her face, as you do. While she walked down the runway, Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” played as all the models she walked past held hands in solidarity. It was perhaps the greatest ending New York Fashion Week has ever seen.